Dennis The Fox - Mother Trucker (Reissue) (1972/2017)

Dennis Caldirola (born 1948) – better known to record collectors by the stage-name, Dennis The Fox – is an American singer, songwriter, and keyboardist who for many years has been most notable for his soulful compositions that were recorded by prominent jazz, soul, and disco artists such as Dee Dee Bridgewater (b. 1950) and Phyllis Hyman (1949–1995).

Active as a performing musician since the mid-1960s, Caldirola was initially a member of various teenage rock ‘n’ roll bands during the Pacific Northwest's “Louie Louie” era. By the 1970s his songwriting talent was flourishing and various other artists began recording his songs. In an effort to score a record deal he cut an album's worth of tunes that represented the full range of his abilities – songs that touched on the rock, psych, soul, funk, country and pop genres.


Dennis the Fox "Mothertrucker" LP Musart Records MA801
Released as an independent DIY project on an obscure Seattle-based label, his Mothertrucker LP was released in 1972 to no great fanfare, and basically sank without a trace. Meanwhile, Caldirola simply carried on with his life. He played in other bands, worked in the music biz as a professional song plugger, penned songs that were recorded by various artists, and held other entertainment industry management-level jobs.

In the meantime, whole new generations of music fans, vintage vinyl collectors – and eventually hip-hop DJs – discovered that old Mothertrucker album and found some of the funk grooves to be phat. In recent years the LP has gained a robust cult following and various songs on it have been sampled for other artists’ recordings, and included in a CD/book set (Enjoy The Experience – Homemade Records 1958-1992), as well as on numerous compilation discs. The original Mothertrucker album has become a valuable and highly sought-after collector's item, and was finally reissued on vinyl by Modern Harmonic records in 2017.